I knew he’d be overpaid this offseason not as much money that I thought he’d get but way more term

Finished enough chances when it mattered ;-)

They're reported to be trying to move McDonagh. If he's off the books they can possibly fit Palat. Depending on $$

never said they dont make mistakes but to call people "dumb" (not literally) - for liking the contract is quite bold seeing as its a fair AAV for a solid middle6 winger who played very well in the playoffs.
trying to sound smart about the deal being a headache based on term (not you, the original quote); is pretty bland as pretty much all parties involved know it will be unless Paul exceeds expectations which would wind up making it a larger W for Tampa. Its literally the reason for the deal "longer term for value now".

The only reason the AAV is "low" is b/c of the term. Had this been a 3-4 year deal, the AAV would've clearly been $4M+.

I hope at least some of y'all voting "yes" have reasonings other than that it works in video games. With a full god damn NTC, this is one ACL tear away from being an unmovable contract. And it's exactly deals like this that cause cap crunches. Signing guys like this to term more than 3 years is never a good idea imo.

For a guy with an almost negative 6 corsi (C+/60) thats a lot of term and money. He had a good amount of points but they better hope he slots in as a 2nd liner starting next year. Could also make it very difficult to sign Palat

Kind reminds of the Goodrow deal who "starred" Tampa in a short term there and then got 3.6, X 6 deal from the Rangers. Doubt if both are going to age well.

Not bad not good, a better trick would have been front pay load the first 4 NTC seasons so the final M-NTC seasons would have a more reasonable $2 million pay check so you know cap bottom ceiling dwellers would ask for Paul for trades.

Remembering that Tbay were handing out $5 million contracts for middle 6'ers like Johnson, Palat, Gourde, Kilorn, Callahan, Miller just a few years ago, this is a victory in a sense.

Not surprised by the AAV, but the term? Yikes

At least he's only 27 I guess

The AAV is fine but 7 YEARS?

That might make sense. He’s an important member of their defense, but he just turned 33 and he’s got 4 years left on his contract, so this might be a good time to trade him before his trade value starts to decline too much. He’s not the 2-way threat he once was, so some teams might see his cap hit as a liability, but there’s probably at least one GM out there who thinks he could earn his pay by providing stability and experience or mentoring young defensemen. He’d have to waive his no-trade clause though, and then they'd have to replace him, and maybe Rutta too, though I was thinking they're probably hoping Foote can do that.

I can’t help feeling that Paul won the lottery when he was traded to Tampa Bay. If Ottawa had hung onto him or traded him to a team that got knocked out in the first round, he’d probably be getting no more than $2M AAV and a 2 or 3 year term. So who is the real Nick Paul? The guy we saw the last few months in Tampa, or parts of 7 years in Ottawa?

I didn’t see him play much in Ottawa. Did he show anything there to indicate he could get to another level at age 27? Were they holding him back?

I mean to be fair on most other teams Pageau is a 2c or heck could push as a 1c (remember once upon a time we had Bozak as a 1c)

Paul is good but you cant keep him as a consistent top 6 C. He is more of a 3c or top 6 LW kind of guy

any money he left on the table was made up for in term and the control of a full NTC those cost.

2 years too long, and the fact he cant stay healthy is concerning- especially the way he plays. A poor mans Killorn (who was fantastic in the playoffs). In a few years when the Bolts arent top contenders, this will still be a moveable contract, and his style of play will always be attractive to contenders.
I voted no, but it was close. If he ends up on the 4th line the last 2 years or on IR too much then it was too much/too long, but a few more long playoff runs in their narrowing window of contention...not bad at all.

Congrats to Nick Paul. Was a big fan of him in Ottawa. More money and term than I'd give him though.

This brings back Tanev and McGinn vibes in Pittsburgh

Paul out here signing the kind of weird contracts you only see in ACGM’s, not IRL.

Seems fun.

🤷‍♂️